{
  "slug": "atm-cash-load-cost",
  "title": "ATM Cash Load & Vault Cash Cost Calculator",
  "heading": "ATM Cash Loading Cost Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/atm-cash-load-cost",
  "summary": "Estimate opportunity cost and logistics cost of the cash you keep loaded in an ATM.",
  "description": "Cash sitting inside an ATM isn't free — it's either your own capital or a vault-cash line of credit, and either way it has a cost: opportunity cost if it's your money (what it could otherwise earn or the interest you're paying on a loan used to fund it), or an explicit interest rate if you're using a third-party vault-cash provider who fronts the cash for a fee. This calculator takes your average cash balance held in the machine, load frequency, and either your opportunity cost rate or vault-cash provider fee rate, plus per-trip loading/logistics cost, to compute total monthly cash-carrying cost so you can size it against surcharge revenue.",
  "formula": "Opportunity/vault cost = average cash balance × annual rate ÷ 12. Logistics cost = loads per month × cost per load. Total = opportunity cost + logistics cost.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=atm-cash-load-cost",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "avgBalance",
      "label": "Average cash balance held",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 6000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 500,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "annualRate",
      "label": "Opportunity cost / vault-cash rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 8,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 30
    },
    {
      "id": "loadsPerMonth",
      "label": "Cash loads per month",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 4,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "costPerLoad",
      "label": "Cost per load trip (labor/armored service)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 35,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "total",
      "label": "Total monthly cash cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "carryingCost",
      "label": "Opportunity/vault carrying cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "logisticsCost",
      "label": "Loading logistics cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "annualCost",
      "label": "Annualized total cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Average cash balance held: 6000 $",
      "Opportunity cost / vault-cash rate: 8 %",
      "Cash loads per month: 4",
      "Cost per load trip (labor/armored service): 35 $"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Total monthly cash cost: $180.00",
      "Opportunity/vault carrying cost: $40.00",
      "Loading logistics cost: $140.00",
      "Annualized total cost: $2,160"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter average cash balance held ($).",
      "Enter opportunity cost / vault-cash rate (%).",
      "Enter cash loads per month.",
      "Enter cost per load trip (labor/armored service) ($).",
      "Read your total monthly cash cost on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "avgBalance": 3500,
        "annualRate": 4.8,
        "loadsPerMonth": 2,
        "costPerLoad": 20
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "avgBalance": 6000,
        "annualRate": 8,
        "loadsPerMonth": 4,
        "costPerLoad": 35
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "avgBalance": 9500,
        "annualRate": 12.8,
        "loadsPerMonth": 6,
        "costPerLoad": 55
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What rate should I use for opportunity cost if it's my own money?",
      "a": "Use whatever your next-best use of that capital would return — if you'd otherwise pay down a business loan at 9% or invest it elsewhere at 7-10%, use that rate. Using too low a rate (like a savings account yield) understates the true cost of tying up capital in vault cash."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do vault-cash providers typically charge?",
      "a": "Third-party vault-cash services (where they own and front the cash, you just operate the machine) commonly charge 6-10% annualized on the average balance outstanding, sometimes bundled with the processing fee rather than billed separately — read your ISO contract carefully to find the effective rate."
    },
    {
      "q": "How do I minimize cash carrying cost without running out of cash?",
      "a": "Right-size the load amount to demand — loading exactly enough to last until the next scheduled visit without excess buffer cuts average balance without increasing run-out risk, as long as you're monitoring balance remotely via the machine's reporting."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does more frequent loading always cost more?",
      "a": "It trades off — more frequent, smaller loads lower average cash balance (cutting carrying cost) but raise total logistics cost from more trips. Run this calculator at a couple of loading frequencies to find the combination that minimizes total monthly cost for your specific balance and rate assumptions."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/atm-placement-revenue",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/billboard-lease-revenue",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/parking-lot-revenue"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — ATM Cash Load & Vault Cash Cost Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/atm-cash-load-cost)"
}